I’m five episodes into HBO’s Westworld and I’m already hooked for life. The show is not only technically dazzling but also thought-provoking in how it raises issues surrounding A.I., game design, morality, and what it means to be human.

One of the most interesting elements of the show is how it plays with the audience’s sense of reality. Many scenes (particularly “diagnostic” scenes featuring Dolores) are introduced with with zero context, while several of the hosts such as Dolores and Maeve start to encounter hallucinations and visions from the past(?), causing them to deviate from their “loop.”

Through all of this, one major fan theory has emerged: Westworld is actually taking place in two separate time periods, and this fact is being concealed with some skillful editing. Below, I edit together some video evidence of the non-linear timeline theory. Note that there are SPOILERS through this week’s episode of Westworld.Read More »